Lott, Goodman Lead No. 19 BYU in Five-Game Thriller

W. Joel Mitchell | BYU Athletic Communications | Posted Sep 16, 2006

Erica Lott recorded a career-high 26 kills to lead BYU to victory over Colorado State. (Photo by Mark Philbrick/BYU Photo)

PROVO -- For the first time this season, the No. 19 BYU women's volleyball team had to go the distance to get the victory as the Cougars defeated Colorado State University in five games, 28-30, 30-28, 30-27, 23-30 and 15-11. The win, which improves the Cougars' record to 10-1, was BYU's first home win against CSU since 2000, ending a streak of five wins for the Rams in Provo.

BYU was led by the powerful combination of Erica Lott, who had a career-high 26 kills along with eight digs, and Chelsea Goodman, who added a season-high 20 kills to go with seven digs. Lott also had six blocks on the night. Janvier Beaumont led all players with 17 digs. The last time two players recorded 20 kills in a game was last season when Goodman and Lindsy Hartsock accomplished the feat on the road at UNLV.

"Tonight we found a way to win," said BYU head coach Jason Watson. "It wasn't pretty, and it is not representative of the way we've played in the past, but we found a way to pull it out."

Game one saw both teams struggling to find a rhythm with Colorado State jumping out to an early 9-6 lead. The Cougars came back to take their first lead, 10-9, off an Hartsock block. Hartsock would finish the night with a season-high 10 blocks to go with six kills. BYU continued to rally to a 12-9 advantage, a rally that consisted of five straight service points for Goodman, including an ace. However, the team was unable to sustain its momentum and eventually lost the game by two points.

It was BYU who came out hot in game two, turning an early 11-4 run into a 19-11 lead. From there the Cougars held several eight-point leads, the last being a 27-19 advantage. The Rams rallied just as BYU had done in game one until the Cougars found themselves up by only one at game point. Rachel Dyer, who had nine kills overall, put away the emphatic final kill of game two to even the match at one game apiece.

The two teams split games three and four, which were just as close as the previous two. After winning game three 30-27, BYU was staring at a 13-13 tie in game four. CSU went on to get the victory behind a 17-10 run that closed out the game, 30-23, in favor of the Rams. The Cougars dropped the first two points of game five before charging back with five straight points. BYU never looked back on their way to a 15-11 win that gave it the match.

"This was a great test for our team," Watson said. "It was good to see that we could battle adversity and come back, which I thought we did very nicely in game five."

BYU, now 2-0 in Mountain West Conference play, will travel to San Diego to face another MWC opponent, San Diego State, Thurs., Sept. 21. Game time is set for 7 p.m. PST.